MERRY CHRISTMAS from US!

Thanksgiving at the Ranch

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving out at my parents ranch. Here are a few commemorative pictures of the event:






Mom and I looked out the window while cooking and saw my Dad, aka "Poppa" or "PaPa", driving about 4 mph with Gabe in his lap, just pointing at everything and showing him the ropes. We were pretty much crying into the gravy...



Here's the fam, chowing down.



We all have the glazed-over-I'm-ridiculously-full-of-food look in our eyes.



Gabe and I out by the tractors in Papa's shed. (Gabe LOVES it out there!)



The guys hanging out with the old jeep.



Story time is the best. (Notice the pile of tractors and trucks on Papa's lap!)



The little laddie looking quite content.



It was a great holiday. We have so very much to be thankful for!

Few house pics

I've been a poor picture taker lately, but since being hounded about posting about our new house (...ahem, COLLEEN!), I figured I'd put a few up here.

This is the lovely kitchen. We have since removed the gorgeous golden glass and will soon be painting the cabinets white.

We are really excited about our "second" Pecan house. The more we are there, the more we are so totally blown away at the handiwork of the Lord in preparing us such a sweet home. Pray with us that we'll be in it by Christmas! That's what we're really hoping for.


This pic is of the Smurfy Cat Carpet that we joyfully ripped out. Can't wait to see something new and clean in its place!!!!
We're enjoying the whole process (sometimes) but are ready to wrap it up...

And on a totally separate note, here is Gabe, trying his hand out at drumming....He seems to enjoy it. Our dream of a family band is coming to pass...THE GOSS-TONES!

I love it.

Sorry for the randomness, but it's rather late...

Life has gotten the best of me...

Okay, fellow bloggers. Once again, I've been a victim of life, which means that superfluous activities like blogging, reading magazines, and sleeping have been put on the back-burner. But, I am determined to at least write a puny post!

There is so much I want to write, but, suffice it to say, we have been pretty swamped getting our new house in order...We have a few weeks before we'll get new carpet put down, so we're using this time to clean and paint and fix up. The previous owners were OCO's - Obsessive Cat Owners. Barf.

Here is a little known fact about me. I HATE FAT CATS - and more that that, I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE ARE OBSESSED WITH THEIR FAT CATS.

Don't think I'm a monster. When I was a little girl, I loved cats like all my friends. Heck, I even had a ceramic cat lamp in my room, for crying out loud. But somewhere between there and adulthood I began to meet people who were obsessed with their cats, and, frankly, it totally weirds me out. (See pictures below...)

I always have to be careful when I air out this opinion, because there are inevitably people nearby who are OCO's. If that's you, I'm sorry and please get help.




I think the two cats that lived in the house we just bought must have been the two pictured above. 159 pound mammoth cats. That's the only explanation I can come up with for the disgusting amount of cat hair that is EVERYWHERE. Not to mention that lovely smell of cat pee. Ahh....Home ownership!

Anyway, my computer is being slow, but I'll post pictures soon of the new house. We're really excited about it and can't wait to be in, but before that happens there is still a lot of work to be done. Just remember, we'll have a guest room so please come and visit! And I promise not to have any obese kitties around!

OFFICIALLY SOLD!!!!

WOO-HOO!!!!!!!

We have OFFICIALLY CLOSED on our house in Kerrville! The buyers wanted to push the closing date up as quickly as possible, so Jeff and I headed to the bank today to sign off on the deed and get it notarized before sending it away forever...

WE'RE FREE!

One month without a mortgage payment. Sweetness. I guess we could continue living with my parents indefinitely and save a ton of money...people do that all over the world...

Nah.

I think it's time to hit the road!

Corn Casserole

It's true. McDonald's Happy Meals keep kids happy in more ways than you'd think...

Gabe discovered the many utilitarian functions of the Happy Meal box, but his favorite use was to wear it as a hat for long periods of time during our recent road trip to Kerrville. I don't know who was more entertained - Gabe or us!

We made a super-fast trip to Kerrville last weekend to pick up the last of our stuff from the house. I was surprised how emotional it was for me to walk into our empty home for the last time. It was like a tidal wave of emotions hit me when I thought of all the special memories we'd made there. I gues it hit me the most when I walked into Gabe's room. Wow. But, at the same time, I am getting so excited about finding a new house in Temple and seeing it be transformed from just a house into a real HOME. I think that's what we are all longing for. To find our new HOME.

On a totally different note, my friend Colleen asked me to post my recipe for Corn Casserole. This has become one of my favorites, and I have to thank my sister-in-law, Crystal, for introducing it to me. Here it is:



CORN CASSEROLE

1 Can Cream Style Corn
1 Can Kernel Corn
2 Eggs
1 8 oz. Sour Cream
1 Box Jiffy Cornbread Mix
6 Tbs. Butter
1/2 c. Cheddar Cheese

Mix all ingredients except cheese. Pour into 13x9 pan (or 9x9 pan for a thicker casserole - I like it this way, though you'll have to bake it a bit longer). Top with the cheese. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until cheese is browned a bit and the casserole is set.

Enjoy!

SOLD! (well, almost...)

Hooray! It looks like we may FINALLY have a buyer for our Kerrville house. It's only been a little over three months, but I guess when you're not living in the house that you're still paying the mortgage payment on - any amount of time seems too long. But, after back and forth negotiations about the price and closing costs, we finally reached a point of agreement. The scheduled closing date will be the end of this month. Pray all goes smoothly!

We found out about the offer this past Sunday, which was the same day as the grand opening of Harvest Church's new building. To me, the timing was significant. It was as if the last chapter to one story was closing, and the commencement of another exciting chapter was just beginning. I guess Solomon was right. To everything there is a season.

And speaking of the seasons, I am SO READY FOR FALL! The weather has been so cool and crisp in the mornings, and I love it! We decided to take full advantage of the beautiful Saturday by going to the park with our friends, the Allerkamps. And, as if planned, our boys wore the exact same outfit! (I promise, we do not coordinate our sons' outfits...)

Gabriel and Evan in their coordinating stripey-ness..
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